An independent executive branch review board has determined that the NSA survellance program that gathers billions of phone calls every day is illegal and should be stopped.
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), an executive branch committee made up of privacy and civil liberties experts, split 3-2 on its report, which included stinging rebuke to the government's contention that the legality of the program is based on a section of the Patriot Act.
Washington Post:
The board's conclusion goes further than President Obama, who said in a speech Friday that he thought the NSA's database of records should be moved out of government hands but did not call for an outright halt to the program. The board had shared its conclusions with Obama in the days leading up to his speech.
The divided panel also concluded that the program raises serious threats to civil liberties, has shown limited value in countering terrorism and is not sustainable from a policy ...(Read Full Post)